Taliban changing from religious group to criminal enterprise: U.N.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The Taliban’s reliance on extortion and kidnappings, along with narcotics and illegal mining operations, is transforming it from a group driven by religious ideology into a criminal enterprise hungry for profit, U.N. sanction…
Obama faces limited options in Iraq crisis, doubts over air strikes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two and a half years after President Barack Obama disentangled America from a long, unpopular war in Iraq, his options for helping the Iraqi government stave off a militant onslaught are slim as doubts simmer over whether even pu…
Obama sticks to measured approach on Iraq, defying critics
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, he built his reputation as an anti-war candidate by disparaging U.S. involvement in Iraq, adamantly insisting: “It’s time to end this war.”
Ukrainian forces reclaim port city from rebels
MARIUPOL Ukraine (Reuters) – The Ukrainian flag fluttered over the regional government headquarters in the strategic port city of Mariupol on Friday after government forces reclaimed the city from pro-Russian separatists in heavy fighting and said they…
China says will never send military to oil rig spat with Vietnam
BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese official said on Friday that China will never send military forces to the scene of an increasingly ugly spat with Vietnam over an oil rig in the South China Sea and accused Hanoi of trying to force an international lawsuit…
Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric issues call to fight jihadist rebels
Baghdad, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq’s most senior Shi’ite Muslim cleric urged followers to take up arms against a full-blown Sunni militant insurgency to topple Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a conflict that threatens civil war and a possible break-…
Afghans head to polls again in final test as Taliban threats loom
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghans head to the polls on Saturday for a second round of voting to elect a successor to President Hamid Karzai in a decisive test of Afghanistan’s ambitions to transfer power democratically for the first time in its tumultuous hist…
Iraqi military breakdown fueled by corruption, politics
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Iraqi army that disintegrated under an onslaught by Islamist fighters this week was a hollow force, riven by corruption, poor leadership and sectarian splits – a shadow of the military Washington had hoped to leave in the war…
Italy PM Renzi says will not accept party ‘anarchy’ on reforms
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday accused 13 senators from his own party of seeking “15 minutes of fame” after they withdrew their backing for an overhaul of the political system, and pledged to push ahead with reforms.
Israeli forces search for three missing Jewish teens in West Bank
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli forces are searching for three Jewish teenagers who went missing in the occupied West Bank late on Thursday, the military said on Friday.
